So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God.
Parallel translations
- WEB So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
- KJV Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
- NKJV Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
- NASB Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
- NLT Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
You are no longer a slave but a son, and therefore an heir of God through Christ. Paul drives home the staggering privilege of the gospel: full inheritance in God Himself.
Overview
Paul concludes the adoption argument by addressing the reader directly and personally ('you'). The movement from slavery to sonship to heirship traces the believer's transformed standing. To be an 'heir of God through Christ' means sharing in all the riches of salvation, a status entirely received by grace and never to be exchanged for the bondage of law-keeping.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Rom 8:16–17The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
- Gal 3:29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
- Gal 3:26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Cor 3:21–23Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours,
- Gal 4:5–6to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.
- Gal 4:31Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
- Ps 73:26My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
- 2 Cor 6:16–18What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
- Lam 3:24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
- Rev 21:7The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.
- Gen 17:7–8I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Jer 10:16The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name.
- Gen 15:1After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
- Ps 16:5The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
- Jer 31:33“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.
- Jer 32:38–41They will be My people, and I will be their God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the law's curse, that we might receive the Spirit and be sons — justified by faith in him, not by works.
How Galatians 4:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.